For Release: Thursday, October 22, 2015
15-2066-NEW
NEW YORK–NEW JERSEY INFORMATION OFFICE: New York City, N.Y.
Technical information: (646) 264-3600 [email protected] www.bls.gov/regions/new-york-new-jersey
Media contact:
(646) 264-3620
Occupational Employment and Wages for Emergency Responders in Selected
Metropolitan Areas in New York and New Jersey – May 2014
A total of 72,260 police officers were employed in New York and New Jersey in 2014, the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics reported today. Firefighters and emergency medical technicians and paramedics held over
40,000 additional jobs in the two states. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that the six
metropolitan areas covered in this release had above-average wages for police and sheriff’s patrol officers
and firefighters. The New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa., Metropolitan Statistical
Area (MSA) and the Trenton-Ewing, N.J., MSA also had above-average wages for emergency medical
technicians and paramedics. (See table A. For comprehensive definitions of the selected metropolitan areas,
please see Technical Note. Data in this release exclude unpaid volunteers.)
Table A. Average (mean) annual wages for emergency responders in the United States and selected areas in
New Jersey and New York, May 2014
Area
United States........................................................................................................................................
New Jersey........................................................................................................................................
New York ...........................................................................................................................................
Albany-Schenectady-Troy .............................................................................................................
Buffalo-Niagara Falls .....................................................................................................................
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island ................................................................................
Edison-New Brunswick MD .......................................................................................................
Nassau-Suffolk MD ...................................................................................................................
Newark-Union MD .....................................................................................................................
New York-White Plains-Wayne MD ...........................................................................................
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington .................................................................................................
Camden MD ..............................................................................................................................
Rochester ......................................................................................................................................
Trenton-Ewing ...............................................................................................................................
Police and
Sheriff's
Patrol
Officers
$59,560
88,530*
72,310*
67,780*
64,850*
80,190*
94,350*
96,570*
86,290*
75,320*
65,970*
76,050*
66,300*
87,900*
Firefighters
$48,750
77,550*
73,200*
52,930*
53,930*
81,210*
68,050*
66,450*
83,090*
82,410*
50,820*
65,750*
64,760*
78,070*
Emergency
Medical
Technicians
and
Paramedics
$35,110
35,340
39,780*
34,250
33,650
40,890*
33,830
43,830*
36,120
42,720*
36,600
35,350
35,580
44,120*
Note: An asterisk indicates that the mean annual wage for this area is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent
confidence level. Data exclude unpaid volunteers.
Employment of emergency responders in selected areas in New York and New Jersey
The New York Metropolitan Statistical Area had 76,730 jobs in the three emergency response occupations.
Seventy percent of the emergency responders in the MSA were located in the New York-White PlainsWayne Metropolitan Division (MD), with employment of 53,760 in the three occupations. The other four
divisions of the New York MSA each had between 8,000 and 7,500 emergency responders. As a whole, the
New York MSA had the highest employment among the selected areas in New York or New Jersey for
police and sheriff’s patrol officers (51,250), emergency medical technicians and paramedics (13,990), and
firefighters (11,490).
The Trenton MSA was the only other area in New York and New Jersey with over 3,000 jobs in any of these
three emergency response occupations, with 3,510 police and sheriff’s patrol officers. In the other selected
areas, employment in this occupation ranged from 2,440 in Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y., to 1,520 in
Rochester, N.Y. (See table B.)
More than 1,000 emergency medical technicians and paramedics worked in two of the selected areas outside
the New York MSA—1,390 in the Camden, N.J. MD (part of the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.N.J.-Del.-Md. MSA) and 1,140 in Rochester. (The Philadelphia area also includes metropolitan divisions
which are located outside of New Jersey, and they are not included in this release.)
Firefighters held 1,320 jobs in Buffalo. Firefighter employment in the four remaining areas outside the New
York MSA ranged from 730 in Rochester to 410 in Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.
Table B. Employment of emergency responders in the United States and selected metropolitan areas in New
Jersey and New York, May 2014
Police and Sheriff's Patrol
Officers
Area
Employment
United States...................................................
New York ......................................................
New Jersey...................................................
Albany-Schenectady-Troy ........................
Buffalo-Niagara Falls ................................
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long
Island ........................................................
Edison-New Brunswick MD ..................
Nassau-Suffolk MD ..............................
Newark-Union MD ................................
New York-White Plains-Wayne MD ......
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington ............
Camden MD .........................................
Rochester .................................................
Trenton-Ewing ..........................................
Percent of
total
employment
Emergency Medical
Technicians and Paramedics
Firefighters
Employment
Percent of
total
employment
Employment
Percent of
total
employment
638,810
50,060
22,200
1,810
2,440
0.5%
0.6*
0.6*
0.4*
0.5
308,790
12,140
5,060
410
1,320
0.2%
0.1*
0.1*
0.1*
0.2
235,760
15,410
7,670
970
0.2%
0.2
0.2*
0.2*
(1)
(1)
51,250
0.6*
11,490
0.1*
13,990
0.2
4,500
5,190
4,880
36,680
15,300
2,280
1,520
3,510
0.4
0.4*
0.5*
0.7*
0.6*
0.4
0.3*
1.6*
900
120
1,410
9,060
3,240
610
730
510
0.1*
0.0*
0.1*
0.2*
0.1*
0.1*
0.1*
0.2
2,130
2,430
1,420
8,020
5,110
1,390
1,140
200
0.2*
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.2
0.3*
0.2*
0.1*
Footnotes:
(1) Data not available.
Note: An asterisk indicates that the employment share for this area is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent
confidence level. Data exclude unpaid volunteers.
Wages for emergency responders in selected areas in New York and New Jersey
In all of the selected New York and New Jersey areas, wages for police and sheriff’s patrol officers were
significantly above the national average of $59,560. The areas’ mean wages for this occupation ranged from
$87,900 in Trenton to $64,850 in Buffalo. While the New York metropolitan area had an average wage of
$80,190 for police and sheriff’s patrol officers, two of its divisions—Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y., and Edison-New
Brunswick, N.J.—had average wages of $96,570 and $94,350 per year, respectively.
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All of the selected areas had average wages for firefighters significantly above the national average of
$48,750. Metropolitan area wages ranged from $81,210 in the New York MSA to $52,930 in the Albany
MSA. Within the New York MSA, the Newark-Union, N.J., and New York MDs had mean annual wages of
$83,090 and $82,410, respectively.
Emergency medical technicians and paramedics in the Trenton and New York MSAs had wages that were
significantly higher than the $35,110 national average, at $44,120 and $40,890, respectively. In addition,
two metropolitan divisions of the New York MSA posted above-average wages for these occupations:
Nassau-Suffolk ($43,830) and New York ($42,720). Emergency medical technicians and paramedics in the
other selected areas earned wages that were not measurably different from the U.S. average.
These statistics are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, a federal-state cooperative
program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the New York State Department of Labor
and the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has
economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident
statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two
values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and
heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.
Technical Note
The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual mail survey measuring occupational
employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States.
Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are also surveyed, but their data are not included in the national
estimates. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are
mailed to approximately 200,000 sampled establishments in May and November each year. May 2014
estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2014,
November 2013, May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, and November 2011. The overall national
response rate for the six panels is 74.3 percent based on establishments and 70.5 percent based on weighted
sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual
panels represents approximately 57.1 percent of total national employment. (Response rates are slightly
lower for these estimates due to the federal shutdown in October 2013.) For more information about OES
concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.
The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary
workers in 22 major occupational groups and 821 detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan
statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and nonmetropolitan areas. In addition, employment and wage
estimates for 94 minor groups and 458 broad occupations are available in the national data. OES data by
state and metropolitan/nonmetropolitan area are available from www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcst.htm and
www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcma.htm, respectively.
The May 2014 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system
and the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2010 SOC is
available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc and information about the 2012 NAICS is available at
www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.
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Metropolitan area definitions
The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S.
Office of Management and Budget.
• Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Albany,
Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, and Schoharie Counties in New York.
• Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y. MSA includes Erie and Niagara Counties in New York.
• New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. MSA includes the following:
• Edison-New Brunswick, N.J. Metropolitan Division (MD) includes Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean,
and Somerset Counties in New Jersey.
• Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y. MD includes Nassau and Suffolk Counties in New York.
• Newark-Union, N.J.-Pa. MD includes Essex, Hunterdon, Morris, Sussex, and Union Counties in
New Jersey and Pike County in Pennsylvania.
• New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. MD includes Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic Counties in
New Jersey; and Bronx, Kings, New York, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, and Westchester
Counties in New York.
• Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. MSA includes the following:
◦ Camden, N.J. MD includes Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties in New Jersey
◦ Philadelphia, Pa. MD includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia
Counties in Pennsylvania.
◦ Wilmington, Del.-Md.-N.J. MD includes New Castle County in Delaware, Cecil County in
Maryland and Salem County in New Jersey.
• Rochester, N.Y. MSA includes Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, and Wayne Counties in New
York.
• Trenton-Ewing, N.J. MSA includes Mercer County in New Jersey.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice
phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 800-877-8339.
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